The disclosures herein relate generally to portable computers and more particularly to latch hooks for latching a top portion of a portable notebook computer to a base of the computer.
Portable laptop or notebook computers include a base and a top which is pivotally connected to the base at a hinged connection. When the top is raised, a display panel such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel mounted therein is exposed. The LCD panels are costly components available from several manufacturing sources and are available in various sizes. In addition, the spacing and orientation of the mounting points for one manufacturer may vary from the spacing and orientation of the mounting points for another manufacturer. As a result, several different top configurations are required for mounting the various size LCD panels and their multiple mounting points. A latch device for latching a top and a base of a portable computer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,107.
LCD panels are typically mounted between a top housing and a bezel. Various size LCD panels have different xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d areas, i.e., the area of the panel that becomes illuminated and is visible. As a result, the bezel used must cover the peripheral edges of the LCD panel in a manner which exposes only the active area of a particular panel. LCD panels are more recently being side mounted to a bracket in the top housing. This has been done so that larger LCD panels can be mounted in the same size top housing as the smaller panels.
New methods are being developed to mount larger LCD panels in the top housing of the computer, while minimizing the dimensions of the top housing and the base. However, there has been a common problem of mounting these larger LCD panels without affecting the xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d area of the panels or increasing the risk of breaking the LCD glass.
In addition, with larger LCD panels there is the problem of providing a method for latching the computer top to the base when the computer is in a closed position. The top of a portable computer is typically connected to the base by a hinge on one edge and by at least one latch located on at least one other edge. When unlatched, the top is rotated open thus exposing a keyboard on the base and the LCD panel mounted in the top. The latch which secures the base and top is typically mounted along an edge of the top, outside the area of the LCD panel. As a result, the amount of space available for the latch is limited. In addition, the increase in panel size has created additional space limitations for mounting the latch in the top.
Typically the footprint, or area, of the largest LCD panel which can be mounted on a particular base must be less than the footprint of the base because the latch or latches which are mounted outside of the panel area must latch into the base when the computer is in its closed position. However, this is in conflict with the desire to have a portable computer with an LCD panel having a footprint as large as or larger than the footprint of the base of the computer.
In order to mount these larger LCD panels on an existing base, it is sometimes necessary that the computer top and/or the LCD panel overhang edges of the base. It is desirable to maximize the size of the LCD panel while minimizing the amount of this overhang. It is also be desirable to equally distribute the amount of overhang on each edge of the base. In addition, it is desirable to provide adjustable or removable latches such that LCD panels of different sizes could be mounted within a particular computer top.
Therefore, what is needed is a portable computer top which houses an oversized display panel and includes a latch which engages a substantially standard sized base without covering any part of the active area of the panel. Also, the latch must not place an amount of stress on the display panel that could damage the panel.
One embodiment of the present invention, accordingly, provides a display panel cover of standard outside dimensions which can accommodate a larger display panel than presently being used. To this end, a portable computer includes a base, a display panel, and a cover for housing the display panel. The display panel includes a front surface having an active area and an inactive area surrounding the active area. The cover is pivotally connected to the base and includes a latch hook which extends over a portion of the inactive area of the display panel. The latch hook operates to secure the cover to the base when the cover is in a closed position.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that in a portable computer, a display panel cover can be used to host various size display panels including a display panel having a footprint which is substantially as large as or larger than the footprint of the base of the portable computer.